Third Paris attacker was turned down by French army recruiters

Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of three young men who shot dead 90 people at a Paris concert hall a month ago, was turned down by the French army before Islamic State took him on to fight for them.

Army recruiters in Strasbourg decided after conducting physical and psychological tests, that he was not a suitable candidate to bear arms as a French soldier.

Mohamed-Aggad’s identity was only established this week because of a text message his mother Fatima received. The text came from his wife, Hadjira, in Syria. It told the mother of four that her younger son had died “with his brothers” on the night of the attacks. Fearing the worst, and with her elder son already in prison suspected of terrorism links, the Moroccan-born woman went to the family’s lawyer.